Geology 203 - The Earth's Surface

The surface of the Earth is a history book of past environmental change. Every hill and valley, every erosional feature and every deposit is the result of processes acting at the Earth's surface. In this course we study these processes (e.g. glaciers, rivers, slopes, coastlines, arid regions, frozen ground, cave formation, soil development and groundwater) to understand how they work and to understand the resulting landforms and deposits. With this understanding we can then observe different landforms and deposits and infer past processes (i.e. environments of deposition). Field work and trips allow students to explore first-hand the processes that have created and modified the Earth's surface.

Prereq: One 100-level Geology course.; Coreq: GEOL-203L.